Giants Getting High Production From 2014 MLB Draft

The San Francisco Giants have four of the top products from the 2014 MLB Draft, as rated by a recent re-draft.

Jun 7, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Logan Webb (62) delivers a pitch to the Texas Rangers during the first inning at Globe Life Field. | Jim Cowsert-USA TODAY Sports

Back in 2014, Vanderbilt pitcher Tyler Beede was supposed to be the future of the San Francisco Giants rotation.

Instead, it turned out to be the fourth-round pick from that draft, Logan Webb, that became that future.

Recently, The Athletic did a re-draft of that 2014 MLB Draft, since it’s been 10 years since those picks were made.

Webb, back then, was the No. 118 overall pick out of Rocklin High School in Rocklin, Calif. Now, Webb is in his sixth year in the Majors and one of the key parts of the Giants’ rotation. In fact, if that draft were held now The Athletic believes Webb would be the No. 4 overall pick.

Back then, the No. 4 overall pick was Kyle Schwarber, selected by the Chicago Cubs.

This season he is 6-5 with a 3.02 ERA as San Francisco has leaned heavily on him due to injuries in the rotation. For his career he is 48-37 with a 3.36 ERA. He finished second in Cy Young voting lasts season, even though he went 11-13 with a 3.25 ERA.

Another long-term play was outfielder Austin Slater, who was the Giants’ eighth-round pick and based on his career would be the No. 29 overall pick if the draft were this year.

Slater played at Stanford and made his MLB debut in 2017 and has been with the Giants his entire career. He’s fought injuries this season, but in previous years he’s batted as high as .282 and hit 12 home runs in 2021.

The Giants have two other draft picks who figured in this re-draft.

Third baseman Matt Chapman was the No. 25 overall pick that year, selected by the Oakland Athletics. The Cal State Fullerton product was No. 2 in the re-draft.

Chapman has had a bit of trouble getting his bat going this season, but his glove remains one of the best at the position. He’s a four-time Gold Glove winner and he’s also won a Platinum Glove. He also made the All-Star Game in 2019 and was sixth in American League MVP voting.

The other is outfielder Michael Conforto. In 2014 he was the New York Mets’ first-round pick (No. 10 overall) out of Oregon State. Now, he’s seen as the No. 9 pick in the re-draft.

Conforto joined San Francisco last season and he’s emerged as one of their best power sources, as he eight home runs and 22 RBI so far this season. He broke into the Majors in 2015 with the Mets and spent the next eight season with them, hitting a career-high 33 home runs in 2019.

As for Beede, he did get to the Majors with the Giants in 2018 but never stuck due to injuries. He went 5-11 with a 5.39 ERA with San Francisco. He spent 2023 in Japan and is now with Cleveland as a reliever.